Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90859 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-21
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
More than 450 dream machines, from million-dollar sellers to exotic variants, are celebrated in this exhaustive reference to video gaming systems. The near-ubiquity of video games means that nearly every reader will have owned, played, or heard about at least a handful of the machines included, whether from Europe, Japan, or the United States. Beyond just images of the gaming decks, the book covers classic software in all of its authentic, pixilated glory, as well as key technical facts for each console and operating system. With nostalgia and an archivist's attention to detail, this compendium of virtual competition looks back on 33 years of staring at screens and furiously pressing buttons.

Customer Reviews

An excellent book - something for everyone
Originally written in German, the book has been seamlessly translated into English, each console's section is well structured featuring a variety of content and lots of photographs. This is a great all round book, it's got enough detail in for gamers who never stopped playing consoles and is also great for your "oh wow I remember that" mates. I cannot recommend this book more highly.

Superb - The bible for retro gaming collectors
This book is the best resource for collectors of video games. Not only does it include every games console, but also home computers as well. It is very well presented, with full colour pictures of the machines and some very interesting facts. It is not perfect though (hence the four stars), as there are some omissions (the Tiger R-Zone for example). It would also have been nice to have pictures of every console variant and some of the packaging. These are minor problems however, as if you have any form of love for gaming you should get this book.

Truly Brilliant!
I was there, and I can safely say that this book is the best of the best when it comes to picking out the ultimate systems and computers of the retro gaming years.

I'm almost speechless. You HAVE to check this thing out. The articles, the page layout, the selection of photographs. Absolutely brilliant. Let's face it, it would take volumes to cover all the machines that were out there in the 70s and 80s alone. This book distills the finest machines and most notable systems, without any chaff. That alone must have been a challenge for the writer.

I'm very impressed, and recommend this to any game enthusiast. Hell, you don't even have to be a game enthusiast -- just someone who remembers playing the odd video game from time to time. I'm serious -- this book will take you back there.

Now, if only someone would make the back-issues of the magazine Electronic Fun available. That would take care of the arcade side of video game history quite nicely.

This book will forever sit not far from my collection of 8 and 16-bit consoles and computers, so that this generation (and the next) can put it all into context.

Thanks Winnie Forster for making this book.